Moyes: Wigan defeat still rankles

Everton manager David Moyes is keen to avenge one of his side’s most disappointing defeats of the season when Wigan visit Goodison Park tomorrow.

A midweek match at the JJB Stadium in late November saw the Toffees beaten 1-0 and the travelling support stay behind to vent their anger at the display.

Moyes said the night was just as disappointing for him and aims to put things right when the two meet again.

“I remember it because of the performance that night,” said the Scot.

“That was definitely the most disappointing night of the year. It is the one performance that still rankles with us – we were not at our best by a long way.

“You never want to be associated with a game or a performance like that but maybe at the time, it made the players realise that they had to pull their fingers out.

“We have moved on from then, the team have moved on and the performances have as well.”

Midfielder Leon Osman also remembers that night at the JJB.

“It wasn’t an easy game to forget. I was distraught afterwards. We never want games like that to happen but when you put it into perspective, it was one game,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

“It was just an awful night, the fans voiced their frustrations but thankfully we have all moved on.”

Although Everton’s form has improved dramatically – they are sixth in the table and the defeat at Portsmouth a fortnight ago was only their second in 18 matches - Moyes has warned against complacency.

Wigan are just a place behind, albeit seven points adrift of the Merseysiders, and are hopeful of securing European football for the first time in their history.

“I’m not daft enough not to know that Wigan are on our tails,” he said.

“We are their next opponents and they will be saying if we can beat Everton we can get closer to them.

“Steve Bruce (Wigan manager) has got a really good side there; they are hard-working and competitive and it will be a tough game for us.

“It is no surprise with the squad they have got they are doing so well. They are not conceding many goals and have been hard to beat.

“They are a good team and they have one or two exceptional individuals and because of that it gives them that little bit where they can work hard not to lose but also have one or two players who can win them games.”

Moyes is concerned the Sunday afternoon kick-off may affect the atmosphere at Goodison, as it has on previous occasions, and has asked fans to do their best to push the team on.

“I can see it being a tight game so I ask the supporters for patience and to help us as much as they can,” added the Scot.

“Sunday afternoon games are not always great – and we always seem to play at home on Aintree weekend as well so we’ll have to look into that one I think.”

Moyes will make a late decision on the fitness of Tim Cahill as the midfielder only returned to the club today after international duty.

The Australian has spent the last week in Sydney recovering from a calf injury and did not play any part in the Socceroos’ 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday.